


At the End of the World

by Scifiroots



Category: The Dead Zone
Genre: Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Episode Related, Episode Tag, Friendship, Gen, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-02
Updated: 2014-09-02
Packaged: 2018-02-15 20:15:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2241984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scifiroots/pseuds/Scifiroots
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Major spoilers for season one episode “Here Be Monsters.” Visions of “what might have been” continue to plague Johnny.</p>
            </blockquote>





	At the End of the World

He still had dreams about the fire that had almost consumed him. Countless nights he had woken up because of the violent coughs that wracked his body as he tried to clear his lungs of ghostly smoke and ash.In his dreams Dana and the cavalry hadn’t arrived in time—the flames caught onhis clothes, melting the rubber on his sneakers, and eating away his skin. His screams faded quickly as the flames and smoke choked all sound, but he could still hear the enthusiastic shouting from the crowd... And one other voice, so different from the others, _screaming_ and _begging_ —Oh God, Bruce... The thought registered only for a few moments before he was blinded by agony and a rush of visions of his own autopsy, not that it was needed, and burial preparations. He even saw the dirt piling on top of him and the decaying shrinkage of his skin over his bones.

 

“ _NO!_ ” His scream seemed to echo eerily around the large den. He gasped in a lungful of clean air and almost coughed in surprise. His eyes were wide open and staring blindly at the blank TV screen across from him.

 

“Oh God, man, I’m so sorry...” Bruce suddenly appeared, his dreadlocks swinging at his shoulders as a result of his sprint back to the room. “I just—I shouldn’t have, damn it.”

 

Johnny looked numbly at the worried face above him.

 

“John, I’m so sorry...” Bruce knelt in front of him and wrapped his arms tightly around the still gasping man. “I’m so sorry... We’re okay, you’re okay... Jeez, it’s been two _months_ , when are these nightmares going to let up?”

 

Slowly calming down and regaining some sense of reality, Johnny brought one shaking hand up to rest against Bruce’s hair. He stared at the contrast of light and dark without thought for a moment, a blissful reprieve.

 

“They hurt you...” he murmured after a while, the memory somehow a little hazy.

 

Bruce glanced up in surprise and leaned back a bit to get a better look at Johnny’s face. “I’m fine, man, it really wasn’t so bad...”

 

Johnny knew that was a lie. He remembered how much pain his friend had been in and recalled the vision he had caught of Bruce checking in at a walk-in clinic they had finally stopped at on the way home—the physician on call had mentioned cracked ribs and prescribed a pain medication that Johnny knew Bruce hadn’t filled, let alone taken, until they got back to Cleaves Mills.

 

“Hey, hey... John, you with me?” Bruce’s dark eyes were full of concern and a little bit of fear. He had raised one hand to cup Johnny’s cheek—he hadn’t even noticed.

 

“Yeah... I’m...” Johnny grimaced at the unfinished sentence, unable to describe how he felt and unable to brush it off as if everything were okay.

 

Bruce moved onto the couch beside him and leaned forward so that their foreheads touched. “We’re gonna make it through all this, man.”

 

Johnny closed his eyes and sighed. “It might be a long time, Bruce.”

 

“I don’t care. We’re in this together, John, and it’s not that easy to get rid of me.”

 

A shadow of a smile touched Johnny’s lips. He felt so tired... the nightmares hadn’t allowed him good rest for a long time. 

 

“I’m gonna be right here, John, it’s okay to fall asleep,” Bruce said quietly.

 

Johnny wanted to protest and deny any further attempts, but Bruce’s embrace was warm and Johnny’s body had finally relaxed under his touch.

 

As he drifted off into peaceful oblivion, he thought he might have felt the brush of lips against his skin and an _I_ _love you_ whispered against his ear.

 

**~ * Fin * ~**

_ Edited July 6, 2005 _

 


End file.
